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Son, 19, charged in slayings of San Juan Capistrano man and woman

Ashton Sachs is charged with fatally shooting his parents and attempting to kill two siblings in their O.C. mansion last month.

By Paloma Esquivel and Adolfo Flores

10:40 p.m. EST, March 7, 2014

The 19-year-old son of a San Juan Capistrano man and woman found shot to death in their mansion was charged with their deaths Friday, as well as with the attempted murder of a sister and younger brother.

Orange County authorities allege that Ashton Sachs, who was living in Seattle before the killings, entered his family's home and shot his parents, Bradford Hans Sachs, 57, and Andra Resa Sachs, 54, as they slept. The bodies were found by authorities early on Feb. 8.

Sachs is also accused of entering the bedroom of his 8-year-old brother and shooting him, the Orange County district attorney's office said in a statement. The boy survived but is paralyzed.

The man then went into another part of the house and shot at one of two sisters who were in the home. The 17-year-old girl wasn't struck, prosecutors said. Another older child lives elsewhere.

Sachs returned to Seattle after the killings, authorities contend, and was arrested Thursday after police interviewed him in San Diego, where he was staying with friends.

A neighbor said the Sachses, who were divorced but continued to live together, were pleasant and outgoing. Some business associates, however, said the two were tough to work with and secretive.

Ashton Sachs faces two counts of murder with special circumstances for multiple murders and two counts of attempted murder with premeditation and deliberation.

He also faces sentencing enhancements for personal use of a firearm causing death, as well as personal use of a firearm causing bodily injury and paralysis.

If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole. He also could receive the death penalty. He is being held without bail.

Justin Montano, an investigator with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, said the motive is still under investigation.

"We were looking at all angles early on," Montano said.

Ashton Sachs and other family members had been interviewed early in the investigation, but it wasn't until this week that authorities learned of information that pointed to Sachs as a suspect.

He is the second-eldest of the Sachses' five children and had been enrolled in college in Washington state since last year, according to sheriff's officials.

"We feel confident that he is our suspect," Montano said. "We believe that he was acting alone."

Initially the case was a mystery for investigators, he said.

"There's a long list of people who may not have liked the family," Montano said.

Tony Guichard of Seal Beach said he was a neighbor and friend of the Sachses for a time when they lived in Huntington Harbour several years ago. After a while, he said, he stopped going out with them because they had many enemies and he came to believe "something bad was definitely going to happen."

In addition to their five children, Brad and Andra Sachs had a young daughter who died several years ago, Guichard said.